Staring
by Rainpath
Summary: Cute little moment between Pete and Claudia.


**So this sort of came into my head when I realized how much Allison Scagliotti had changed, appearance-wise, over the course of the show. Also the fact that she's drop-dead gorgeous. And this show is doing all sorts of crazy things to my emotions.**

**Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own _Warehouse 13._**

* * *

The kid was _staring._

Openly, unapologetically leering at the redhaired agent currently tearing through this pimple-faced high schooler's laptop to find out who he'd sold Betty Zane's apron to. He'd handed the machine to her pretty readily when they'd come a-calling about an old piece of fabric.

It was bad enough that this kid, Jason, had somehow come across the apron imbued with the Revolutionary War heroine's knack for charming those who should hate her, and then sold it on eBay to Zeus-Knows-Who. What made this more infuriating for Pete was that in the entire fifteen minutes that Warehouse Agents Lattimer and Donovan had been in his suburban Ohio house, Jason hadn't taken his eyes off of Claudia for more than a few seconds. Even now, as Pete was trying to get a little more information about the downside of this particular artifact (which Jason obviously knew about, as evidenced by angry red burns on his hands), he was profoundly distracted, his mouth slightly agape as he completely ignored the older man trying to keep his attention.

"Okay, Jason," Pete said firmly, which caused the teen to turn his head, although his eyes kept darting away. "I need you to tell me exactly how long ago you started getting those burns."

He knew he shouldn't be getting this annoyed at normal teenaged hormones, but he remembered feeling this way the first time he'd caught a classmate looking at his sister for a few moments too long back in the eleventh grade. Claudia was a pretty girl and it wasn't the first time, nor was it surprising that Pete had seen her turn heads, as much as she remained either ignorant or uncaring of that fact. He knew she wasn't the cute, angry-but-insecure 18-year-old kid she had been when they'd first met, but it made him a little uneasy and marginally protective to think that someone was thinking of the young (to him, anyway) computer genius like—well, like _that._ He suppressed a shudder.

"I, uh, I." Claudia looked up from the laptop in vague confusion at the sound of his nervous voice, oblivious to the attention she had only seconds before been the target of. Jason turned slightly red and looked down quickly before focusing on Pete. "About a week ago. I was going through some old boxes at the thrift store I work at when I found that old apron you guys were asking about. I knew who Betty Zane was, Zanesville isn't far from here. I figured someone would pay some money for her apron when I saw her name embroidered on it." A confounded look crossed his face. "What do my burns have to do with the apron? I thought I accidentally touched a chemical or something and didn't realize it."

"Don't worry about it," Claudia muttered quickly, closing the lid of the computer. "It was sold to a Mrs. Cara Rook, who lives in New Jersey," she said to Pete, mostly ignoring the boy who was blushing furiously now. She pushed his computer into his hands, and he only barely kept himself from fumbling the machine and dropping it on the hardwood floor.

"Okay, so keep those burns iced, and they should fade in about—Claud, how long does it take to get to Jersey?" Pete asked her as he began to put his notepad away.

"Maybe two hours," she replied, already making the plane arrangements on her phone.

"They should fade in about six hours," the agent said. "Give ourselves a little time to breathe," he added under his breath.

"Thank you for your time," Claudia told the boy, offering him one of her fake, retail worker-worthy smiles. Jason returned the gesture with a wide grin of his own. He held out his hand to her and the light drained from his eyes a bit when Pete intercepted and shook his hand instead. He gave the teen a pointed look and ushered his young partner out the door.

Once they were safely walking down the driveway toward the car, Pete threw an arm over Claudia's slim shoulders, squeezing a little in an awkward hug.

"Pete," she whined and fought away from his grasp, still absorbed in her phone. Her partner gave a snort of laughter, which caused her to look up questioningly at him.

"Wow," he teased. "You are totally and completely oblivious."

The tech wiz looked insulted for a moment before narrowing her eyes at him, doing her best to imitate Myka's 'threatening' face. "To what?" she asked.

"Jason," he said, as though that explained everything. When he didn't get a response, he continued. "He was staring at you. Like really, really staring."

She rolled her eyes, sighed dramatically, and started walking ahead of him.

"It's true!" He called to her, laughing. It was in his nature to be irritating. "He liiiikes you."

"Ignoring you," Claudia deadpanned.

Pete noticed a passing bicyclist almost crash into a tree twisting his head around to give the woman a second glance. He observed the slight stiffening of her body at the sound of the man shouting in surprise, and was suddenly reminded of all the times she'd jumped or winced at someone raising their voice. Pete may not know much about her past, but he knew she was strong and that she was healing. He also knew that he'd bury the body of anyone who hurt a red hair on her head where no one would ever find it.

"I'm driving," she told the older agent when he'd reached the car.

"Like hell you are," he chuckled, making her shoot him a glare. He mentally weighed the pros and cons of retelling Jason's actions to Artie, knowing that it would get the old man's blood pressure to skyrocket, which could prove hilarious. At least he had ample ammunition to tease his companion with on the way to the airport.


End file.
